Appreciations

I love their insistence on continuing to work the old-fashioned way and the manner in which they have incorporated that into working digitally. I can’t think of anybody else who still DRAWS comps and typefaces, y’know, with an actual pencil and paper. I also appreciate the way that their intelligence, humor and sense of history seems to make every other designer look like the pompous, pretentious nerds that they no doubt are. Modern design is Margaret Dumont; House is the Marx Brothers.

If there were any place I wish I worked that I don't, it's House. These folks have an unparalleled aesthetic, brilliant font-design skills, killer musical acumen, and a kick-ass sense of humor. Look at their gorgeous and amusing book, which reveals the passion behind their process. Or even better, buy their beautifully packaged fonts.

A childhood friend turned me on to House Industries. I noticed straight away that everything they do is handcrafted, looks more authentic and feels a lot more real. And they are so much into the details--always arguing about whether one curve into a letter should be much more angled than another. They work harder in some ways than anyone over here (United Kingdom) I could have hired.

House Industries is good at what they do because they not only appreciate art, aesthetics, and style but are also in love with concepts. Their font kits are microcosms of the pop culture they represent. Their products are not just fonts; they’re a lifestyle.

What I love about House Industries is that they search through corners of culture for something valuable that you’d never thought of before, then raise it to a higher artistic level. It’s a very difficult thing
to do.

There is a mysterious “Ingredient X” which belongs to good art...something which can’t be quantified but imparts a special and indescribable quality to an object. It’s the magic that turns 12 dollars worth of art supplies into a 15 million dollar painting in the hands of Picasso. I’ve been watching House Industries for a long time, and let me tell you, “Ingredient X” oozes from their font sets...

You can spend hours and hours looking for cheap fonts, cheaper fonts and free fonts and you will find precisely what you deserve. Little League baseball jerseys deserve better. House owns cool. Not the cool of the ‘lad magazines’ but the cool that comes from diving for pennies in a 70’s swimming pool, of hot rods, skateboards, thrift store records, punk rock, boomboxes, schlock science fiction and custom vans. House does the heavy lifting so the rest of us look cool.

Design is a willingness to surrender to a journey. You often hear about “design driven” companies but most of them that want to license the Eames name are thinking of it as an acquisition for their collection of brands. Every once in a while you encounter a company like House Industries who is willing to go on that journey and grow our brand as well as theirs.